Pete Hegseth Calls India ‘Powerful’, Lauds Its Military Modernization Efforts; Endorses Trump’s India-Pak Truce Claim

Singapore: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Saturday reserved strong praise for India, describing it as an increasingly vital security partner. He pointed to New Delhi’s modernisation of its armed forces, development of industrial and logistics capacity for high-end operations, and its contribution to maintaining balance of power, especially in the Indian Ocean.

Addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security summit, Hegseth added, "We have also committed to pursuing co-production with India to advance capabilities."

These remarks formed part of a broader outline of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. Hegseth emphasised Washington’s goal of achieving “a genuinely stable equilibrium” and a “favourable, but durable, balance of power in which no state, including China, can impose its hegemony.”

He reassured regional partners of continued U.S. commitment despite challenges elsewhere, such as in West Asia, and called for greater burden-sharing. “The era of the United States subsidising the defence of wealthy nations is over. We need partners, not protectorates. We seek alliances built on shared responsibility, not dependency,” Hegseth said.

The Secretary highlighted defence cooperation with a range of Indo-Pacific nations including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. While expressing concerns over China’s military build-up, he said the U.S. is not seeking confrontation with Beijing.

Hegseth Backs Trump's India-Pak Truce Claim

The U.S. Secretary of War credited President Donald Trump with helping broker peace between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, while underscoring New Delhi’s growing importance in Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy.

Addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security summit, Hegseth highlighted last year’s understanding between India and Pakistan that ended a four-day military confrontation sparked by a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives.

“You saw that in the ability of the president to come together on brokering a peace between India and Pakistan, two nuclear capable countries,” Hegseth said.

Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for facilitating the de-escalation. India, however, has maintained that the ceasefire understanding was reached directly between the two neighbours without third-party mediation.

Despite the thaw, Hegseth acknowledged that security suspicions persist. 

“I think both sides there are going to see understandable threats coming from the other... countries are going to want to develop ICBM threats,” he noted, while clarifying that the U.S. is not currently labelling either nation as a direct threat to America. He praised both countries for their contributions to global stability “in each of their lanes.”

The Secretary also drew attention to Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts, referring to the “field marshal and the prime minister” and their role in regional peace initiatives. He described an “unexpected development and a true friendship developing there,” and noted Pakistan’s prominent position as a mediator in the West Asia conflict, particularly between the U.S. and Iran. Islamabad hosted recent talks that did not yield a breakthrough, though Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed hope for another round soon.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, convenes defence ministers, military chiefs, and security experts from around the world to address pressing strategic issues in the region.